Egypt will be opening the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian Gaza Strip on August 17 – 22 in both ,directions. The border crossing was closed to regular traffic in 2014, due to Palestinian militant’s support of insurgents in Egypt’s North Sinai province.

Egyptian government sources and media report that the Rafah border crossing will be opened between August 17 – 20, allowing passage in both directions, reports The Cairo Post.

Traffic via the Rafah border crossing was restricted for an indefinite period after coordinated attacks in Sheikh Zuwayad in October 2014 claimed the lives of 27 personnel of Egypt’s armed forces.

Considering the Israeli blockade against the coastal Palestinian enclave, the Rafah border crossing is one of the primary life-lines for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The last time that the border crossing was opened for humanitarian reasons was in June 2015.

Palestinian militants associated to the armed wing of Hamas as well as ISIS associated militants have been involved in supporting armed Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS affiliated militants in Egypt.

The heaviest price, however, is being paid by Gazans who are not involved in supporting the insurgents in Egypt. That is, the majority of people in the coastal enclave.

The Egyptian government has repeatedly stressed that Egypt would like to normalize the opening of the Rafah border crossing as soon as possible, thus mitigating the effect of the Israeli blockade. One precondition for the normalization of the opening of Rafah is that the Palestinian side of the border is controlled by Palestinian government forces and not by forces under the command of any particular political faction.

The Egyptian authorities declared its intention to open Rafah border crossing, in both directions, from Monday to Thursday, August 17-20.

The Middle East News Agency quoted official sources as saying the border crossing will be opened in both directions.

According to the General Administration of borders and crossings in Gaza, Rafah crossing will be opened for four days from Monday, August 17 to Thursday evening, August 20. Travel will be based on registered lists, at the Ministry of the Interior, to be announced on Sunday evening.

Rafah crossing has been closed for 200 days since the beginning of the year except for 15 days only. Thousands of travelers have been waiting for Rafah crossing to be opened so that they can travel for treatment abroad or for other needs.

The Israeli occupation army has continued for the 13th day running to prevent the Palestinians from using the road adjacent to the illegal settlement of Beit El, which was established on Palestinian-owned lands in Ramallah.

Local sources told Quds Press that the Israeli army closed the road with concrete blocks on July 31 following violent clashes with angry Palestinian young men who reacted to the deadly arson attack on al-Dawabsheh family in Nablus.

The Palestinian citizens were using the road to travel between Ramallah city and the northern cities and towns of the West Bank, according to the sources.

The closure forced the citizens to use other unpaved routes to reach the northern West Bank areas and al-Jalazoun refugee camp.

The Palestinian Human Rights Center (PHRC) said that due to the unjust siege imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel, the poverty rate in Gaza has recently increased to reach 38.8%; out of which 21.1% are suffering from destitution. The unemployment rate has recently increased to reach 44%.

PHRC warned that these rates indicate an unprecedented economic deterioration in the blockaded enclave.

In its weekly report, PHRC pointed out that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has imposed sanctions against the civilians in the West Bank as part of the collective punishment policy pursued by the IOA, which flagrantly violates international human laws.

The report also said that the IOA has completely closed three out of four commercial crossings which connect Gaza with the West Bank and Israel.

Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing is Gaza's only commercial crossing but it is not fit to meet the needed amount of goods and fuel.

PHRC charged that Israel has imposed tight security restrictions on people’s movement via Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing depriving the Gazans from reaching their families in WB and the 1948-occupied lands, let alone the hundreds of students who were deprived from attending the WB universities.

The IOA is banning the entry of raw materials and construction materials to the Strip except for very few kinds and in very limited quantities to be used in the international projects, according to the report.

It highlighted that there is an almost complete ban on Gaza's exports except for few products like flowers, strawberries, and spices.

PHRC stressed that Gaza and the West Bank including Jerusalem are still under Israeli occupation and that crossings' closure and collective punishment policies are still imposed on the Gazans in absolute disregard to the human rights’ treaties, the international humanitarian law, and Geneva Conventions.

Israel is bound to apply the international human rights law (IHRL) in a way that provides the civilians and victims with better protection, the report said.

Israel has been imposing tight land and sea blockade on Gaza in an attempt to completely isolate the Strip from the external world, which seriously worsened the economic, social, educational and living conditions of about 1.8 million Palestinians.

Israeli occupation agreed on creating a sea-lane connects Gaza Strip and Cyprus Island in exchange of long-term truce that ups to ten years and lifting the siege on Gaza, Palestinian reliable sources reported to Al- Hayat London based paper Wednesday.

It reported that ending the siege on Gaza would facilitate reconstructing the Gaza Strip after the mass devastation of Israeli occupation offensive against Gaza last August.The sources pointed that Israel still refusing to allow the rebuilding of the airport on Gaza, which is entitled with the name of the late President Yasser Arafat.It explained that Israel has refused a Qatari offer to build an airport in Israel at their own expense in exchange for Israel's agreement to re-establish the Gaza airport.The sources added that a comprehensive agreement is still far away. And Israel will not accepted such an agreement without reaching an agreement for prisoners swap between them and Hamas.Former envoy of the International Quartet Committee Tony Blair lead an indirect negotiation between Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation, thorough which Israel expressed its agreement regarding building sea-lane between Gaza and Cyprus.Blair met on Tuesday the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal in Doha for the second time in six weeks and reliable sources confirmed it.The sources reported that the negotiations between Hamas and the Israeli occupation witnessed a significant progress towards reaching a long-term truce. Israel has signed an agreement brokered by Egypt with Hamas on 26 August 2014 that ended a 51 days of Israeli occupation offensive against Gaza. The Palestinians resistance movements have been demanding in the negotiations, which let to sign a temporary agreement, for opening Rafah boarder, building a seaport, and rebuilding Gaza airport.After long months, Blair visited Gaza to look at the humanitarian conditions in as a step for the indirect negotiations he runs.The sources said that Blair has informed Mashaal that the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas considered these negotiations an encroachment of the legitimate authority of the Palestinian people.

The Egyptian authorities have pledged to open the Rafah border crossing next month for three consecutive days for the travel of Palestinian pilgrims from the Gaza Strip.

Director of the Rafah crossing Khaled al-Sha'er stated on Saturday that the Egyptian authorities informed him of their intention to allow the travel of 2,400 Gazan pilgrims to the holy land in Saudi Arabia during September.

The Palestinian ministry of interior affairs in Gaza had appealed to Egypt to open the crossing for the travel of Palestinian passengers, including students and patients.

There are about 20,000 Palestinians from Gaza registered for travel by the interior ministry.

Players of Ahli al-Khalil attend a training session in Gaza City on August 5, 2015

Gaza-based football club Ittihad al-Shujaiyeh said Friday that Israeli authorities prevented players and staff from leaving the besieged enclave to face West Bank rivals Ahli al-Khalil, while Israel denied the allegations and blamed Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub.

The Gaza-based team was scheduled to leave the coastal territory together with Hebron's Ahli al-Khalil after having played an historic game a day earlier at the Yarmouk stadium in Gaza.

But four of the players and three of the team's staff were refused travel permits, club spokesperson Alaa Shamali said. The players were identified as Hussam Wadi, Maysara al-Bawwab, Omar al-Arier and Hashem Abed Rabbu.

The second leg of the cup game, scheduled for Sunday, has now been postponed and the next 24 hours will prove crucial as to whether talks with FIFA can lift Israel's travel restrictions, Shamali said.

Ittihad al-Shujaiyeh had agreed before the game that they would not leave Gaza unless the entire team was allowed to travel, Shamali added. But the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT) said in a statement that it had coordinated travel permission for 37 players from Ittihad al-Shujaiyeh and had required four players to attend a preliminary inquiry and so arranged their crossing a day earlier.

Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub canceled their permission to cross, COGAT's statement added, saying that coordination was once again arranged for Friday but canceled by the Palestinian official.

"Palestinians are giving a cynical use to sports, damaging only the Palestinian public," the Israeli statement said.The two teams had faced each other in an historic match on Thursday which ended in a 0-0 draw. The West Bank and Gaza Strip compete in separate leagues, of which the two teams which faced off on Thursday are the champions.

Israel had originally denied travel permits for the Hebron-based team to enter Gaza, before lifting restrictions. Routine restrictions placed on Palestinian players by Israeli authorities under the pretext of security has long hindered the Palestinian National Football team's ability to play.

Current and former players have spoken of hours held at checkpoints, being shot at with live Israeli ammunition, the ongoing restriction of their movement, and rampant racist verbal abuse at football matches that the Israel Football Association has ignored.

Thousands of enthusiastic football fans converged on a stadium in war-torn Gaza on Thursday for a match seen as a symbolic victory over bitter political divisions and an Israeli blockade.

The encounter between West Bank-based Ahli al-Khalil and Gaza's Ittihad al-Shujaiyeh -- their first in 15 years -- was technically to determine who will go on to represent Palestine in international competitions.

Players and fans, however, saw it as much more than a sporting event, with the West Bank and Gaza Strip only 60 kilometers apart but separated by politics and Israeli territory.

Hamas rules Gaza, which is under a strict Israeli blockade, while the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas is based in the West Bank. Attempts at reconciliation between the two Palestinian political factions have proved futile -- but that was not the case for Thursday's football match.

The match which ended in a 0-0 draw was a relief for Gazans from the poverty and destruction surrounding them, especially after last year's war with Israel. But not everyone could enter at five shekels per ticket ($1.30) to watch the match, played in blisteringly hot temperatures.

Shejaiya hails from an area flattened in last summer's war which destroyed 18,000 homes and left more than 100,000 people homeless. Even Yarmouk stadium, where the game was played, was partly destroyed by Israeli strikes.

"Shujaiyeh,Shujaiyeh, not afraid of death," home fans chanted amid a din of drums and smoke. But cries of "go Al-Ahli" also rose from the stadium. The West Bank and Gaza Strip compete in separate leagues, of which the two teams which faced off on Thursday are the champions.

A return leg is to be played in Hebron in the West Bank on Sunday.

Bringing people together

For Al-Ahli goalkeeper Azmi Shweiki, "football has succeeded where the politicians have failed. It brings people together." He said he was "moved by people's smiles despite the living conditions."

Ahmed Mahajni, who also plays for Al-Ahli, was visiting Gaza for the first time, with the coastal enclave largely cut off from the world by the Israeli blockade and a closed border with Egypt. He said that was "already a victory."

Restrictions on the movement of its players is one of the reasons officials from the Palestinian federation have pushed FIFA, of which Palestine has been a member since 1998, to sanction Israel.To reach Gaza, the West Bank team had to cross Israeli territory, and Israel had to grant approval for its players to enter the strip.

Once there, captain Fadi Dweik had bittersweet feelings. "We are happy to be here and at the same time very sad to see the destruction" from last year's war, the third in six years with Israel, he said.

The war killed 2,251 Palestinians, including more than 500 children. Seventy-three people died on the Israeli side, including 67 soldiers. "We saw in the media the damage from the war, but to see all of that for yourself, it's another feeling -- much stronger," Dweik said.

He called the match "a message of hope sent to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "Shujaiyeh president Salah Harazallah said: "The aim of this match was to break the blockade imposed on Gazan sport, and it was achieved when Al-Ahli entered Gaza."

On Sunday, Israeli authorities had denied Palestinian footballers from Ahli al-Khalil permits to enter Gaza due to "security reasons," the Palestinian Football Association said.

Routine restrictions placed on Palestinian players by Israeli authorities under the pretext of security has long hindered the Palestinian National Football team's ability to play. Current and former players have spoken of hours held at checkpoints, being shot at with live Israeli ammunition, the ongoing restriction of their movement, and rampant racist verbal abuse at football matches that the Israel Football Association has ignored.

Zahhar made his remarks during a graduation ceremony held for the young men participating in the summer training camps of al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

The Hamas official emphasized in a speech during the ceremony that the price for solidifying the fragile truce with the occupation is to end its blockade on Gaza.

He accused the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority of being together responsible for delaying the reconstruction of the war-torn enclave.

Zahhar also hailed that the Palestinian resistance for teaching the Israeli occupation a lesson during al-Asef al-Makoul battle in 2014 about the impossibility of invading Gaza, and paid tribute to the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem for their steadfastness in the face of the ongoing Jewish violations at the Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli forces Wednesday afternoon denied a Palestinian professor and his family entry into occupied Palestinian Territories to work for Birzeit University in Ramallah.

According to a press release issued by Birzeit University, professor Omar al-Surani and his family were denied entry into the West Bank through the Allenby Bridge border crossing. Al-Surani was planning to work as a lecturer at the Birzeit University Faculty of Architecture. The university’s administration decried the Israeli “arbitrary actions” against Palestinian academics wishing to join Palestinian universities and called upon relevant international and local human rights organizations to pressure the Israeli authorities into halting “racist measures” that violate Palestinians’ right to education. The university also called upon the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) to take action at the highest levels in order to pressure Israel to end its interference with education in the oPT. Al-Surani, who holds a Palestinian and British passports, is originally from Gaza and is currently based in the United Kingdom.

Vice president of the Energy Authority, Fathi Sheikh Khalil, confirmed the entry of the first truckloads of Qatari funded fuel into the blockaded Gaza Strip via Karem Abu Salem crossing for the sole power station in the Strip.

Khalil pointed out, in a statement to al-Rai agency, that technical crews of the power station are verifying the entered quantities of Qatari fuel.

For his part, the director general of the general administration of border crossings of the Palestinian Authority, Nathmi Muhanna, said four trucks of 190,000 liters reached the power station in Gaza.

He pointed out that pumping other quantities of Qatari fuel into Gaza will be resumed on Wednesday in coordination with the Israeli side.

In the same context, electricity service returned back to Rafah city partially after repairing one of the Egyptian electricity lines which was cut off suddenly on Monday. An official in the generation company affirmed that work is going on in repairing the other remaining lines.

Electricity lines which feed Rafah city from Egypt suddenly stopped with unreleased reasons on Monday.

The Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) banned two Palestinian journalists from traveling abroad for security reasons. One journalist was summoned for investigation before he was informed of the travel ban.

The Palestinian journalist Amjad Abu Arafeh told Quds Press that he was summoned on Tuesday to be questioned by the Israeli intelligence in Occupied Jerusalem. He was released on bail.

He added that the IOA prevented him from travel for three months under the claim of security reasons. The Israeli forces confiscated his Jordanian passport and asked him to hand over his Israeli passport.

In the same context, journalist Mohammad Khader Semrain said that the Israeli intelligence informed him on Monday about the order of ban of travel until a further notice due to security reasons.

Journalist Abu Arafeh works as a cameraman for Al-Aqsa Satellite Channel while the journalist Semrain works as a correspondent for a local radio station.

Energy and Natural Resources Authority in Gaza asked all competent authorities to work thoroughly for the entry of Qatari fuel into the blockaded Gaza Strip for the sake of running Gaza power station.

In a statement on Sunday, the Authority renewed its appeal to the Palestinian government to reduce taxes on the fuel price and to guarantee the continuation of fuel flow to the station.

It stated that the continuation of the current power distribution schedule by 8-hour running of electricity for 8-hour cut off depends on entering the Qatari fuel, for which efforts have been exerted for months. It also depends on the amendment of the mechanism of calculating the fuel prices and taxes.

The head of the Palestinian Energy Authority said on Thursday that the Qatari fuel bound for the sole Gaza electricity plant had arrived at the Karem Abu-Salem Crossing, but Israel has delayed its entrance to the territory, the Safa news agency has reported. "The fuel has arrived at the Israel side of the crossing," explained Omar Kitana, "but the Israeli authorities have put forward new conditions before it will be allowed into Gaza." He said that a fuel tank at the crossing exploded two months ago and major repairs were made to its infrastructure and other issues. "But the Israelis have just demanded new measures at the last minute. Such measures were not demanded before." To solve the problem, Kitana said that "intensive contacts" have been made with political parties, the Palestinian ministerial council and the civil affairs committee in order to allow the fuel to cross the border. "If the Israelis insist, though, we will be obliged to do what they say." The fuel at the crossing is enough for one day only, he pointed out, noting that the energy authority has agreed with Egypt to transfer the Qatari donation on a daily basis directly from an Egyptian port to the plant. The storage tanks at the plant were destroyed by the Israelis during last year's war on Gaza. Meanwhile, Kitana pointed out that delivery of the fuel bought from Israel for the electricity plant was resumed today after 5million shekels (around $1.25m) was transferred from Gaza to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The delivery of fuel is dependent on such payments to the PA. "If this continues, we will be able to run a third electricity generation unit and we will have 18 hours of electricity every day," he added.

A Palestinian youth was assaulted by an Israeli soldier as he was crossing Jabara police station to cross into Hebron, for simply wishing the soldier a ‘good day’, the Palestinian detainees and ex-detainees affairs committee reported Wednesday.

The committee said, according to WAFA, that after Naser Jaber, aged 22, got his identity card checked by an Israeli soldier at the police station in order to allow him to cross into Hebron, Jaber wished the soldier a ‘good day’, when the soldier stopped him immediately, asking him, ‘Am I your friend to wish me a good day?’ The soldier then smacked Jaber on his chin and on the back of his head with his riffle, causing him serious cuts and fractures in his chin and jaw, as well as an intensive internal bleeding in his head.

Jaber was then detained and left to bleed for two hours before transferring him to hospital for treatment. He was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, where he received medical care. Jaber was then transferred to Etzion Israeli jail in Hebron, however, the prison administration refused to take him due to the severity of his health condition. He was taken back to Jabara police station and back to Etzion jail shortly after.

Jaber told the committee that he has not been provided with any additional treatment despite of his bad condition following the assault; he said that he suffers from severe pain in his head, a high fever, and walking problems.

Incidents of violence by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians, including children and women, have regularly been reported, either during Israeli arrest operations, home searches and raids, violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations, or while serving jail sentences in Israeli jails.

Many Palestinians have been injured or shot dead on sight for allegedly committing assaults against Israelis despite the fact that they posed no threat to the lives of soldiers.

In December 2014, a Palestinian woman in her early twenties was shot and seriously injured by the Israeli soldiers who opened fire on her for allegedly stabbing an Israeli settler near Bethlehem.

In April 2015, a youth from the village of al-‘Arqa to the west of Jenin died of critical injuries he sustained after being shot by Israeli forces while he was tending his land near the separation wall. He was identified as Mohammad Morad Yahya, 21.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday evening rolled into western Nablus and pitched a makeshift roadblock near the Israeli illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron.

A PIC news correspondent quoted eye-witnesses as reporting that the IOF troops deployed near the checkpoint blocked the movement of Palestinian citizens and vehicles out of and into Nablus city, inspecting passengers’ IDs in the process.

Traffic congestion cropped up in the process, resulting in long queues of vehicles and passengers lining up near the checkpoint. Others were forced to pass through ragged bypasses and remote roads to gain access to their homes.